Hello! I know I was absent from this page for a long time, but here I am again! Hope you enjoy this one shot I have been cooking here!
Isoiaf and the Silmarillion are not mine!
"She looks like a whore with that dress! Do the dornish not know how to prepare themselves to see a king?" Aerys Targaryen´s words made Princess Elia blush in embarrassment. She was introduced to the court that same midday, as the betrothed of the Crown Prince. When she disembarked in King´s Landing, the young noblewoman was not asking for much. She was hoping for a brief meeting with the Prince and perhaps a ride, but she had only been humiliated by her future goodfather for hours. And the worst was that she couldn´t find help in her brothers, as any of them was allowed to accompany her to her wedding.
"Aerys" an admonishing voice ranged from the other extreme of the table, directed at the king. Elia raised her head in surprise, was indeed someone brave enough to talk like that to the Mad King in his presence? "Please, leave the girl alone. She had much to be nervous about without you belittling her."
"I was only pointing the truth" the Princess was even more surprised when the person, a black haired man whose long hair was contained in an arrange of braids, didn´t get burned because of his impertinence.
"Thank you, your grace, for doing so. But, as I said, the Princess must be nervous and tired more than enough without you pointing out her faults" the man got up, holding his air in the way with the same serious expression that he used before on Aerys. "Princess Elia, I beg your forgiveness in the name of the King. We all hope your stay with us is enjoyable from now on. Welcome to our family, Princess."
"Tha… thank you, my lord" she answered, not knowing what else to say. Did he say OUR family? Was he a Targaryen?
"It seems you are tired. Let me take you to your chambers, where you can sleep the tiredness of the trip" he talked, offering her an arm. She took it, surprised at the firmness of the muscles despite the lithe form of the man. "Your graces, my lords, I will be retiring too. I bid you good night."
"Heh, age finally getting to you?" the lord didn´t answer, he simply left the room with Elia by the arm. Rhaegar gave him a thankful look, not wanting his bride to get intimidated by his father all night. Rhaella also nodded to him, in the same spirits. The man bowed and left, the Princess by the arm, feeling suddenly very comfortable with him close to her. He finally arrived at the guest room she was occupying until she became crown princess of Westeros.
"Princess Elia" he called her making the dornishwoman take a good look at him for the first time. He was beautiful. More than any human male or female had a right to be. And he wore it with a royalty that not even the Targaryens were able to. And a beauty that even the valyrians would envy. "I hope you understand how lucky you are to marry the Crown Prince."
"I know" Elia responded, referring to her future role as the Lady of Dragonstone and Crown Princess of Westeros. The changes she planned to make on the Realm when she was the future First Lady of the Nation…
"I think you don´t" the man continued, frowning. She was intimidated by his stare, full of some light of an unnatural source that should have been forbidden to see for humans. "Rhaegar lives for something that is not for his own eyes to see, but my own will presence if the providence of the Valar favours my children. Are you ready for that?"
"The Valar?" Elia asked, not understanding. "Do you not follow the Seven?"
"I follow the Gods of my childhood, Princess. You should do the same" the strange lord continued, throwing her look that can only be interpreted as some sort of unnaturalness, as if he was more than human. "Do you believe in the Valar or the Seven, Princess?"
"I follow the Mother Rhyonish, my lord"
"Then may she shower with the gift of understanding" the man left her, without letting the descendant of his dear Princess Daenerys ask more questions. Like his identity. "Good night, Princess Elia, and might the Valar I believe in, the Rhyonish Mother you believe in and the Seven everybody believe in protect you."
"Who are you, my lord?" she asked before he managed to leave.
"Maglor… that is how the court calls me" he answered before leaving her to herself.
It will be long years before Maglor regretted what he said to her, long after the years of her marriage with his child Rhaegar, descendant of Estel and Arwen, took place. She was beautiful dressed as a bride, he had to give that to her. And when she took the Targaryen cloak after being stripped of the Martell one by her brother, he felt proud of seeing both descendants of his sons united by marriage. So much that he followed them when they moved to Dragonstone after they married to escape Aerys.
"She is beautiful" he said the first time he held Princess Rhaenys in his arms, a squirming babe fresh out of the womb. Man and child soon became inseparable. Elia, from her window near the sickbed, would watch her little daughter travel in the lord´s arms through the gardens and even her room, feeling more connected with the man than before.
"He is really good with children" she said one day before parting to meet Aerys again. The madman was eager to meet his granddaughter, doubtlessly waiting a silver haired, purple eyes infant. "I mean Maglor, husband. Your… uncle?"
"He is not my uncle" Rhaegar answered enigmatically to his wife, smiling to himself. "But he is something of the sort. He has been there for most of my live, more than my own father. And, if some tales are to be believed, he has been around since Harrenhal, where I was born among fire and death."
"Really?" Elia asked, more eager to know about the enigmatic man. Maglor heard them talking about him and decided to remain in Dragonston for a bit more. After all, he has been around more than a few years and the Prince of Dragonstone knew it. And more.
He had been there when Gondor became ruins and it´s last people fled towards the island that will become Old Valyria, with him in toes, wanting to be with his last connection with Elrond and Elros after Arwen and Estel died and the elves abandoned Middle Earth. He was there when the children of his sons wared the Ghiscari for their freedom and found what remained the Uruloki, those dammed Morgoth creatures, now reborn by Eru, who bonded with Luthien´s blood and founded the bases of the Valyrian Empire, turning their hair and eyes to the once immortal princess ones. He was there when Daenys the Dreamer had her terrible dream and he decided to follow the Targaryens, Velaryons and other children in their flee, promising himself to return to the Freehold that reminded him so much of Tirion once everything was cleared. Just to be sure Aenar and his family would be safe in Westeros.
Maglor never came back. A catastrophe the size of the sank of Númenor assaulted the Valyrian Freehold while he was with Aenar and the exiles. He nearly went insane then, much like when he first tossed his Silmaril to the sea. The former prince started to sing to the sea again, completely ignorant of the outer world…
"So I say a little prayer /And hope my dreams will take me there /Where the skies are blue /To see you once again my love"
He continued to sing, alternating quenya, valyrian and common westron, until a young man from Dragonstone calling him by his name snapped the elf out of it. By then, his fingers have become bloody collections of scars and his harp bloodstained strings. The youngster introduced himself as Aegon Targaryen and reminded him that he still had children to take care of, bringing him back to Dragonstone. There he met Visenya and Rhaenys, both of them darlings, and became an adviser to the Conqueror, as the boy was named later in his life. After seeing his dreams become almost true, he stayed with them as an adviser to the royal family for centuries. He advised Aenys, Maegor, Jaeherys… so many…
"Mag" Rhaenys said one day, interrupting his train of nostalgic thoughts. He smiled at the little girl, who held a doll for him to take. He kneeled on the ground besides the mortal girl, taking it from her hands. "Mag"
"Maglor" he corrected her as he held her in his arms, happy about her being the perfect dornish beauty instead of the valyrian one. Complete contrary to Aerys, who scrunched up his nose when he saw his dark haired granddaughter in the arms of the dornish princess.
"She is a dornish slut! Just like her mother!" he screamed when the child was presented to him, alarming everyone in the room.
"Aerys" Maglor scolded the king.
"She doesn´t have any of the Valyrian traits I wanted! She is useless!" he screamed, ordering the servants to take the girl away. Maglor stared at the growingly mad man, failing to recognize the traits that he had once admired in the Conqueror.
"Aerys…" he tried to make him change opinions, but he only goy a rude dismissal. The elf sighed, following the small family. They stopped in the garden, where Rhaegar took the small girl in his arms and moved her up and down. Rhaenys laughed, enjoying her short trips. Her father and mother smiled at her, embracing her. Elia´s smile was beaming… so much that Maglor felt the unlikely couple have finally found happiness together. It was a calming thought…
But he was thinking too soon. Short after little Aegon´s birth, Maglor started to notice that a breach has been formed between man and wife. He tried to talk to them, to help them mend it, but it appeared that Pycelle´s announcement about the bareness of the dornish princess has taken more toll in their marriage than he thought it would. They were still good parents, but that happiness they were starting to build together… it was gone.
"I wish to talk to you" Maglor said in a last effort to meddle between them on the way to the Tourney of Harrenhal. It was the first time Aerys accepted to attend to one of such events and, as protector, the elf decided to accompany the Royal Family.
"Later" Rhaegar said, sad for some reason. He was always so melancholic, but this was a special kind of sadness he hasn´t seen yet. "It´s been difficult, you know. Elia and I… don´t have much in common. We struggled to find something to connect as husband and wife, but we could always be happy together because of the children, specially when they were inside of her… now I fear we might have lost that."
"You didn´t lose that, you still have Rhaenys and Aegon. They will need the both of you growing up. You love them and will always love them" like I love my little stars, he kept to himself. "Elia and you will recover with time."
"I suppose" the prince answered, not sure. "Do you remember all those times I sneaked into your room as a child and you told me histories about your family?" Maglor nodded, not understanding why he was mentioning that presently. "Your childhood and home sounded so warm… I always desired something like that for myself. A household full of love and understanding…"
"Our blessing turned to curse, something that happened because of our own actions" the Feaorian said, lowering his head. "Never bring a curse down on yourself as we did, my prince. Never. Not even for that prophecy you are so fond of."
"The prophecy is important…"
"Not as much as the happiness of those you love. And sometimes, you have to stand firm even in the face of destiny or family and fight for their happiness. The Valar knows I should have."
"Maglor…"
"Just keep that in mind before you do anything related to that thing. Prophecies are treacherous, my prince, and I wouldn´t want to see you bitten by it."
"It won´t happen"
Rhaegar also talked too fast. And Maglor had a front seat to witness the disaster the Tourney will become when Rhaegar put his eyes on Lyanna Stark, handed the crown of the Queen of Love and Beauty to Lyanna Stark, slighting Elia and the Martells. The woman left in a rage, taking her children with her, but Rhaegar was too busy enjoying his time with Lyanna, laughing with her and chatting with her to notice. That and the thunderous fury in the eyes of Robert Baratheon, Lyanna´s betrothed. Another descendant of Elros, Estel and Arwen, one he had become distant with.
"Please, Eru, don´t let this become a kinslaying come again" he prayed with all the faith he, a cursed elf, had left.
-Months later-
"Welcome, my prince" Maglor said when Rhaegar finally arrived at the battlefield. The rumour said that he had been with Lyanna Stark while all the disaster unleashed in King´s Landing thanks to Aerys, followed by the Rebellion, as it was started to be called. "The Hope of the Troops surely rises with your arrival."
"I thank you, councillor. Can we talk in private?" the silver haired male asked, taking the elf into the commanding tent. "And?"
"And what?"
"Your scolding, what else?" the prince, a full grown man, looked at the floor like a naughty kid. Maglor raised an eyebrow. "I know that you are dying to let out your rage at me for leaving Elia and the children…"
"I´m not angered, Rhaegar, I´m disappointed. It´s different" the noldor put a hand on his front, tired of thinking. That this idiot in front of him was staging the disastrous version of the tale of Beren and Luthien did not sit well with him, especially because without the aid of the Valar and elves, the outcome of true love will not be as sweet as theirs. "Do you love her?"
"I do" he answered without hesitation. "We love each other. And married in the island of faces. She is expecting my child now…"
"Oh, wonderful" Maglor shook his head. "This will be a really good explantion to give to Robert Baratheon, Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark."
"I believed they would understand" the human continued. "I already sent a message…"
"Do you think weak explanations of love will be enough to make the Rebel Lords lay down their swords? That Robert Baratheon will forget about his wounded pride, Jon Arryn his ambitions and Eddard Stark his murdered family just because you and Lyanna found true love? Valar, you are even more of a fool than Felagund."
"I…"
"Listen to me, Rhaegar" Maglor now looked less like the parental figure to all the Targaryen line he has been for centuries and more like the warrior and kinslayer he had once been. "Your father made an awful mistake out of paranoia by burning the Warden of the North and his heir, but… he was not entirely mistaken." The prince looked at him with consternation in his eyes. "Jon Arryn, Hoster Tully and many other lords have been conspiring against the Targaryen dynasty for long. That´s why so many alliances between Paramount Houses in the later years."
"Rickard Stark was part of that conspiracy?"
"He was convinced by his maester to join lately, but that´s not what I want to talk to you about" the elf said, silencing the prince. "Aerys and you caused a rift between us and our most powerful allies, so much that the Rebels now have the upper hand. Arryn has made his moves… and Tywin is going to do the same soon."
"Lord Lannister? Why…?"
"He wanted that horrible daughter of his to become Queen and will do anything to see that become a reality" Maglor said, remembering the only good decision Aerys made since becoming the Mad King. Cersei Lannister was… awful to not say more. "Now is his opportunity, with Arryn planning to crown Robert Baratheon."
"Cousin Robert would not be a good king."
"That isn´t a concern to him right now, not as long as he can control the man. And to do that, he only has to give him wine, blood, whores and Targaryen bodies" Rhaegar´s eyes widened. "This is a war we can´t afford to lose. It will mean the extinction of your family."
"Maglor" a sword was handed to him. "Andúril, a sword of kings since before the Valyrian Empire rose. May it serve you well."
"Thank you" Maglor saw the prince leave the tent, silently praying that he was more Aragorn than /But Eru proved again how cursed he was. Rhaegar was killed by a fatal blow from the monstrous Warhammer his cousin used, Maglor unable to help him, as he was cutting Vale knights in another position. What he could, otherwise, was see the rubies jump from his chest and the waters turn red, as he desperately tried to get to the boy. Robert Baratheon raised his hands in triumph, smiling at the frozen elf.
"KINSLAYER!" he screamed, making everybody stop in their tracks, even the victorious Stormlander. It seemed, after all, that years of laying low hasn´t taken the power out of the Minstrel´s voice. He pointed at the Rebel King to make emphasis. "MAY YOU BE AS CURSED AS I!"
He was horrified a second later. He had never cursed someone of his children´s blood. Not even that wretched Ar Pharazon. OH, ARWEN, ESTEL, ELROND, ELROS… WHAT HAD HE DONE?! In his shocked state he didn´t notice Arryn the knights surrounding him, reading their swords to catch him as the loyalists retreated. He cut down thousands of enemies trying to get out of there, but in the end, Arryn managed to catch him. The damn falcon´s expression of triumph was almost more infuriating than Robert´s.
"Damn you for putting my children ones against another" he said in quenya before he was knocked out.
-Many months later-
"You see, Theobald? I always keep my promises" Jon Arryn said. Maglor struggled against the chains holding him down in a table, a muzzle in place, silencing him. The archmaester smiled down at his new specimen, already wanting to start with the study. "And keep in mind that the income will be reduced while we are recons…"
"It will not be a problem, Oldtown has it´s own incomes" the maester assured him, sending Maglor a final greedy look. If he was right, he was in front of the fountain of eternal youth. And he won´t let his chances of eternal life go. "Ebrose" he turned to the other maester in the room. One of the few that collaborated with the conspiracy against those disgusting magical Targaryens. "Bring me periodical reviews."
"Yes, sir" the Feanorian glared at the men, sending them all his fury he had.
It was before the screams began. The muzzle muffled them, but they still could be heard somehow. Maester Ebrose started to cut different parts of his body to see the inner workings, making notes of how similar it was to a human one, despite his obvious differences. The elf, in the middle of that, regretted having stayed so much near the Targaryen kings, revealing to the westerossi that he was not like them. Had he not gone and gallivant through the court enough years…
"Theobald doesn´t like this at all, he orders more aggressive methods" Ebrose said once, waking him up from light sleep. "Prepare for vivisection"
"But, maester, won´t that…"
"He doesn´t care as long as we keep all the parts conserved" the man answered, grabbing his tools of dissection. Maglor closed his eyes, finally he will meet his end. He will see his father and brothers again… in the Void. The first few cuts have him screaming, his blood falling into the floor as Ebrose cut his chest up, exposing the thoracic cage. He passed a tool towards a younger, stronger looking acolyte who prepared the thing to snap the bones. The lead maester retreated to prepare the conservation solutions… when the acolyte was stabbed in the chest by a sword.
"Mana were tye trying ana care?" the maesters, alarmed, looked through all the room, only to find a blond man in the window. A blond man with pointy ears and a sword. One of the acolytes tried to escape the room to bring the guards, but a second sword was thrown with accuracy to pin him to the Wall. This terrified the grey rats, who didn´t dare to move./p
"Glorfindel" another man entered by the same methods, followed by more. They were all dressed in dark colours and wore grey cloaks with a leaf pins. The man that talked before, apparently the leader, approached the table. The blond, who has seen the specimen on the table, intercepted him.
"Please, mime héru, don´t túl closer. Erestor pole…"
"Ni´m i héru healer símen, captain, ar ni have seen tare than fárea battle wounds ana…"
"Sina na- lala battle harwe, mime héru, -yes´s crueltime."
"Ni have seen tai too."
"Elrond, ve a nur, tye don´t mére- ana cen- your ontáro yare so na- so harna" Glorfindel didn´t like recognized Maglor as Elrond´s father, so his words surprised him a little bit… until he realised that he had done that in an effort to keep him away. And not only from the Feanorian, but from the pain. Even so, he dodged his captain and went to the table. He froze when he saw the injuries from the many experimentations. And the muzzle. But after a second he realised the bleeding from the open chest and started to work on knitting the flesh back together so Maglor could get out of there. Elladan also approached, removed the muzzle before joining his father on the healing.
"Pya Ilmanya?" Maglor asked, semi-conscious.
"Ni´m símen, Atar" the peredhel answered as Elrohir joined too, quickly closing the wound. Laurefindil cut the chains as Erestor and other Feanorian loyalists kept the rats contained. The captain grabbed the unconscious elf prince carefully to transport him to their ship.
"Mime héru…"
"Anne- me some lú"
-Years later-
"Ser Willen, I order you not to die" Viserys cried.
"My dear prince, it´s impossible to…" there was commotion down the stairs. The three persons in the room feared assassins, so they get into alert. "Your grace, you have to leave, quickly."
"It´s not necessary" a known voice surprised Ser Darry. Also the person who appeared on the door after it sounded. Viserys opened his mouth, seeing a face he couldn´t believe he was seeing again. Maglor smiled at the children. "I´m back." He made signal. "And I brought company."
"A pleasure, prince and princess" the person behind Maglor said. "I´m Telperinquar and will take custody of you from now on. My uncle Maglor talked about you a lot."
"Uncle?" Viserys asked, not understanding. He was not aware that the councillor had any family of his own. Rhaegar would have known, a voice told him, but he refused to listen to it. "What… Why do we need a new guardian? Why…?"
"Because of me" Ser Darry smiled, taking a shaky breath. "Lord Maglor, I´m… I´m glad you appeared. Now I can die in piece, knowing that the prince and princess are in safe hands…"
"More than that" another figure appeared, one that both Tyelpe and Makalaurë treated with respect. He showed a great resemblance to both, perhaps more to the first. But his expression was… prideful. A lot. And wore a circlet with an eight pointed star. "Because we are taking back your Throne for you. My way." the kid got up, he was not going to be manhandled by anyone. He was a King! But something in the man´s eyes stopped him. They looked… fiery. Like flames. "They don´t call me a genius for anything."